Majerus time trials to 26th national title

21 June 2017

Christine Majerus unleashed a successful defence of her time trial national title in Remerschen, Luxembourg on Wednesday night. The 30-year-old proved 20-seconds quicker than her nearest challenger, Elise Maes (WNT), en route to her 11th straight national time trial title, bringing her national title tally up to 26.

“I don’t want to talk to much about number of titles,” said Majerus. “Every title has its story, and it’s the story behind each title that I will keep in my memory – not the number.”

The story of Wednesday’s title was fairly straightforward as was the course.

“The lap was all flat and straight with only two corners,” said Majerus. “There was nothing original or inspiring for me. We did two times around. It was terribly warm, and I was prepared for a hard day in the office.”

Majerus hoped to pace herself appropriately, knowing a fast start in the heat could spell disaster in the closing kilometers.

“I didn’t do it really well because I went out fast, probably too fast, and after a half-lap, I decided I should push a little bit less watts to recover a bit,” Majerus said. “I didn’t want to take any risks.”

Naturally, Majerus lost time when she backed off the fast pace she had set early in the effort.

“That’s when people got a little nervous,” she noted. “I was able to speed up in the last four kilometres and finish with 20-seconds ahead. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough and especially given the warm temperatures, I’m happy with my performance.”

Majerus has another title to defend in Sunday’s road race.

“I hope the temperatures will lower on the weekend, which normally they shoud, and the road race lap is way more interesting that the lap today,” Majerus said. “I think I will enjoy it a bit more than the time trial.”